The present invention pertains to access to network communication and pertains particularly to the internet distribution of a print job to multiple print shops based on the geographic location of document recipients.
The Internet started as a cooperative research effort of the United States Federal Government known as the Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPAnet). The ARPAnet tied universities and research and development organizations to the U.S. military establishment. More recently, the Internet has extended its use commercially and internationally. It is the world""s largest computer network.
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address is an Internet address. A URL address consists of a string expression that designates a resource (referred to herein as a URL page) on the Internet. For example the resource is a particular file on a computer connected to the Internet.
Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator browser available from Netscape, and Internet Explorer browser available from Microsoft Corporation use URL addresses to access resources (URL pages) on the Internet. The World Wide Web (Web) allows users to navigate Internet resources intuitively, without using internet protocol (IP) addresses or other special technical knowledge. The Web is made up of interconnected web pages, or web documents stored on web servers. These pages are accessed with the use of a web browser.
Commercial print jobs can be submitted to a print shop an in person customer, a phone call, an interaction with a web page, an electronic mail (e-mail) message, a facsimile transmission (fax) and so on. Typically all the printing for a print job is performed at a single print shop. If the print shop provides shipping services, the print shop may place the resulting documents in the mail for distribution to the intended recipients. Delivery can often require delivery of print copies over a wide geographic area.
Since postal rates for many types of mail distribution within the United States are not based on distance geographic proximity between a sender and receiver. However, delivery time often does vary based on geographic distance between a sender and receiver. Additionally, in some cases postage does vary based on geographic locations. For example, for letters sent outside the United States, postage can be significantly higher. Also, for some classes of mail, cost of mailing does vary based on geographic distance between the source and destination of mail.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system includes a plurality of print service providers and a print job oversight and analysis center. The print job oversight and analysis center is adapted to, in response to receiving a job requiring printing and delivering documents, determining geographic locations of recipients of the documents and selecting a subset of the print service providers to print the documents and send the documents to the recipients. Each of the print service providers in the subset of print service providers prints documents for a subset of the recipients. The documents are apportioned among the subset of print service providers based on the geographic locations of the recipients of the documents so as to coordinate delivery time from the subset of print service providers to the recipients.